Gay marriage, medical marijuana or calls to impeach President Bush, San Francisco City Hall has a long history of giving the rest of the country something to talk about -- and this week the talker was a bombshell served up by Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval.

It started with Sandoval going on Fox's "Hannity & Colmes" show to explain why he opposed bringing the historic battleship Iowa to San Francisco: "We just don't want to put a 10-story gun on the waterfront where everybody is going to be looking at it every single day."

But things really got interesting when the conversation turned to Sandoval's feelings about the U.S military.

"What good has it done for us in the last five years?" Sandoval asked.

"Just because you disagree with how the military is being deployed -- and by the way, I'm kind of in that corner, too -- doesn't mean we degrade those who serve in the military," Myatt said.

Sandoval, however, is sticking by his guns -- sort of ... telling us, "I engaged in a little exaggeration to make a point."

"Of course we need some kind of military, but now we have one that is unprecedented in size, and we need to scale back. But these days you can't even suggest scaling back because of the hysteria that has built up around terrorism," he said.

"I don't think the military is being used to defend America," Sandoval said. "It's being used by civilian leaders for adventurism, for politics and for economic reasons like we are now doing in Iraq."

As for the reaction to his performance: "It's being portrayed in the media as extreme -- I'm sure you guys are going to write it that way as well," Sandoval said.

He also noted that 90 percent of the critical phone calls and e-mails he'd received were from outside San Francisco -- and some of the comments are "very racist and very homophobic."

By the way, this isn't the first time Sandoval has found himself in the limelight -- although never on such a national level.

He last made news a couple of weeks back when he proposed an official resolution supporting the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl, because the 49ers are such losers.

In 2002, while pushing for more Latino representation in the city's workforce, he said the fire department shouldn't read like the "Dublin phone book."

Sandoval also got into hot water when he suggested picketing the bar mitzvahs hosted by uncooperative business leaders during a fight over the city's payroll tax.

And yes, Sandoval said he also supports the pending resolution before the board calling for the impeachment of President Bush -- which was last week's talker.

Happy Valentine's: The spat that had been brewing over outgoing San Francisco schools chief Arlene Ackerman's credit card use died this past Valentine's Day when the school board voted to finalize Ackerman's $325,000 exit deal -- no questions asked.

There was some talk about asking for more records, or even quizzing Ackerman about her meals at Morton's, Hayes Street Grill and other high-ticket restaurants, said one school board member, who asked not to be named because the discussion took place during closed session.

"I think some members wanted to embarrass her on the way out in the hopes that she would cancel her contract," the board member said.

Instead, the board voted to allow Ackerman to burn up unused sick and vacation time between now and June, and come into the office only on an "as-needed basis."

Apparently the fear that the meal and travel questions could spread to include past superintendents -- combined with Ackerman's lawyer's threat of a harassment lawsuit -- pretty much put the kibosh on any more questions.

"I'm happy to report that we can now move forward," said school board President Norman Yee.

And the credit card?

"She's not using it anymore."

Raiders deal: A couple of noteworthy factoids got glossed over at Raiders headquarters earlier when the team unveiled its new, post-personal seat license ticket prices.

Turns out the majority of the new $75, $85 and $100 tickets are club seats -- which means that in addition to the tickets, fans will have to shell out for a $500 season club fee. All for the privilege of being able to order drinks (for yet an additional charge) inside either the East Side or West Side clubs.

But, hey, Raiders chief executive Amy Trask -- who says business is brisk at the ticket office, where she's personally been taking phone orders all week -- insists it's still cheaper than when you had to pay $700 to $1,350 for a seat license, plus a $70 annual maintenance fee.

And there are always those $25 nosebleed seats up on Mount Davis that don't come with a hefty surcharge.

But you'd better be able to afford a good pair of binoculars.

And finally: Reader Jeff Daly reports that one of the specials at the Lark Creek Inn in Larkspur on Wednesday was -- we kid you not -- "Skewered BBQ Texas Quail."